Sunday, April 7, 2013

Saturday Morning Ringside: Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (1986)

Consider the state of women's wrestling in the 21st century.

WWE labels their female competitors as "divas". TNA, in contrast, calls them "knockouts". Either way, they're still a little higher up the food chain from the collection of actresses and models hired by David MacLane and Jackie Stallone (mother of you know who) to form the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, the original incarnation of which lasted four years (1986-90). Yes, it did air on Saturday mornings in New York, on WPIX, which was looking again for wrestling after Pro Wrestling USA folded.

Today, a former (and perhaps current) GLOW wrestler owns the company and has spearheaded a revival, but has yet to get the new GLOW a television contract. GLOW was set up differently than other promotions in that they pre-taped 26 weeks of episodes well in advance, and I don't think there were any house shows. There have been other female-centric wrestling promotions, some campy, like GLOW, others far more serious, such as Shimmer. 5 years ago, WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy Hart was involved in something called Wrestlicious, which barely got off the ground.

Part of GLOW's legacy lies in the fact that one of their original wrestlers later found fame in the WWE. Before becoming Ivory, former college cheerleader Lisa Moretti wrestled for GLOW under the name, Tina Ferrari.

Now, let's take a look back at just how silly this all was, in a match between the Housewives and the Soul Patrol.